After a successful debut in the 1930s as an affecting, ill-fated heroine,
Michèle Morgan survived a disappointing wartime period in Hollywood
to become France's most acclaimed actress of the 1950s. With her
honest expression, serene open face, and fine features, she possessed an
almost unworldly beauty which seemed the outward manifestation of
untainted virtue and intrinsic moral strength. In the bleak mood of
pre-war Europe she came to represent the contemporary romantic heroine
doomed through implacable adversity to unhappiness.

Morgan's first triumph came in
Gribouille
as the fetchingly innocent Natalie, unjustly accused of murdering her
lover. Pathetic, self-sacrificing roles followed. In
Orage
an impossible affair leads to suicide; in
L'Entraîneuse
, revelation of her dubious past destroys her happiness, while in
La Loi du nord
and
Les Musiciens du ciel
a martyr's death is her reward for loyalty and devotion. It was
with Jean Gabin as a romantic partner, however, that she achieved
distinction. If in
La Récif de corail
misfortune is conquered, in
Quai des brumes
and
Remorques
their chance encounter secures only fleeting happiness. As the hapless
heroine, Morgan gave outstanding performances, particularly for
Carné as Nelly, the precociously mature young woman trapped in a
corrupt society and experiencing love with the fugitive Gabin. Her
assorted and indifferent Hollywood performances included that of a servant
masquerading as a debutante in Whelan's comedy-musical
Higher and Higher
, a romanticized Resistance heroine in
Joan of Paris
, and in
Two Tickets to London
a widow romantically involved with a serviceman.

Critical acclaim marked Morgan's return to French cinema in a
sensitive and restrained performance as the blind girl Gertrude in
La Symphonie pastorale
. Reestablishing herself as the romantic heroine, she now assumed
professional roles as an air hostess dogged by memories in
Aux yeux du souvenir
and as a terminally ill ballerina in
La Belle que voilà
. The postwar era brought co-productions and historical roles, notably as
a haughty aristocrat in
Fabiola
, a spirited Joan of Arc in
Destinées
, as Joséphine de Beauharnais in
Napoléon
, the beautiful leading lady in
Marie-Antoinette
, and in
Si Paris nous était conté
as mistress to Henri IV. European directors cast her successively as the
tearful mistress of
The Fallen Idol
, the fading, suicidal ballerina of
Menschen im Hotel
, and as a seductive thief in
Racconti d'estate
.

Invariably elegant and wealthy, in her 1950s roles she remained the
victim, now bored and frustrated in her stifling ease. Escape is sought in
adultery, as in
Le Château de verre
,
L'Etrange Madame X
, with a proletarian lover, and with an artist in
La Minute de vérité
. An alternative solution to personal unhappiness is found in alcohol in
Les Scélérats
,
Oasis
, and, most powerfully, as the unhappily married hard-drinking lawyer of
Pourquoi viens-tu si tard?
Distinguishing this era were roles as Gérard Philipe's
courageous medical helper in
Les Orgueilleux
and, particularly, as the sincere, sophisticated, and suffering
divorcée he seeks to seduce in
Les Grandes Manoeuvres
.

Rarely convincing as a wicked woman, Morgan was nevertheless cast as a
defrauding vamp in
Retour de Manivelle
, a murderess in
Les Yeux cernés
, and in
Le Puits aux trois vérités
as a negligent, jealous mother. Lighter roles saw her as a witty partner
to Bourvil in
Fortunat
, a would-be murderess in
Méfiez-vous mesdames
, an adventuress in
Dis-moi qui tuer
, and a murder suspect in
Le Chat et la souris
.

As a traditional star closely identified with established directors such
as Yves Allégret and Delannoy, Michèle Morgan was all but
ignored by the New Wave iconoclasts. Extending over five decades, her
largely distinguished, if uneven, film career survived indifferent roles
in nonindigenous productions. Eight years after her last screen
appearance, as herself in
Robert et Robert
, she made a triumphant return to the stage in Colette's
Chéri
. More recently, she has enjoyed a popular following in the television
serial
Le Tiroir secret
as a psychologist delving into her dead husband's past. She will
be remembered for her exceptional beauty, her discreet, composed acting as
the desirable young heroine, and her intelligent, sensitive performances
as the sophisticated lady of later years.

—R. F. Cousins

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